IJC Discusses Public Comment on Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Water Levels and Flow Rates

The Commissioners of the International Joint Commission met in Toronto from August 12-14 as part of ongoing deliberations to review their Order of Approval and regulation plan for Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

The Commissioners reviewed the record of public comments, which included testimony from over 200 organizations and individuals at 10 public hearings held in June of this year, and over 1,200 written submissions received during the public comment period, and directed that a synthesis of public comments be posted to its website to complement the existing transcripts and submissions.

The Commissioners met with representatives from the Governments of Canada and the United States and discussed the public comments and submissions regarding the Commission’s draft proposals. The Commission anticipates also meeting with representatives from the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and the State of New York prior to concluding its deliberations.

The Commission will continue to provide updates during its deliberation process. For more information, visit the Commission’s website at www.ijc.org.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones R.I.P.

U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) , the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in Congress, has tragically passed away after suffering a massive and unexpected brain aneurysm.

On August 19, 2008, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones suffered the attack while driving her car. Police had noticed erratic driving and identified the unconscious Tubbs Jones when the vehicle finally came to a stop in a field. She was taken to the intensive care unit of Huron Hospital, a satellite of the Cleveland Clinic, where she was put on life support. Due to hemorrhaging, she remained in unstable and critical condition and was removed from life support at 12:19 p.m. yesterday, according to sources.

Congresswoman Tubbs Jones made a number of historic achievements in her distinguished career as a public servant. Prior to her election to the House, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones served as the first African-American and the first female Cuyahoga County, Ohio Prosecutor. She was the first African-American woman to sit on the Common Pleas bench in the State of Ohio and was a Municipal Court Judge in the City of Cleveland. Tubbs Jones, 58, was elected in 1999 to the House of Representatives and she had served five terms in Congress and was expected to easily win her sixth in November.

Earlier this year, the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) named Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones as their “Great Lakes Legislator of the Year” for her tireless work in support of the Great Lakes shipping industry. Tubbs Jones formally received the award at the group’s annual gathering for the Great Lakes congressional delegation on this past April 2^nd in Washington, D.C. Rep. Tubbs Jones received national attention recently as a co-chair of the successful Ohio primary election effort of the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones was a longtime, dedicated public servant, a friend and advocate for the Seaway System, and a trailblazer breaking down longstanding race and gender boundaries. She will be missed.

The Congresswoman is survived by her son Mervyn Leroy Jones, Jr.

U.S.-Flag Lakes Cargo Total Flat in July Despite Rising Water Levels

The U.S.-Flag Great Lakes fleet moved 12 million net tons of cargo on the Great Lakes in July, a virtual tie with a year ago.  The July float also was roughly 170,000 tons above the month's 5-year average.

Rising water levels again boosted vessels' payloads, but nothing can restore the tonnage that has been lost to the dredging crisis this year.  For example, a 1,000 foot long U.S.-Flag Laker saw its top cargo climb to 67,474 tons of iron ore in July.  However, had the vessel been able to carry this much cargo on each trip this year, its year-to-date total would be 1,416,000 tons instead of 1,331,000 tons.  The dredging crisis has cost just this one vessel 85,000 tons of iron ore.  Furthermore, that 67,474-ton cargo still does not represent the vessel's maximum carrying capacity.  The vessel is designed to carry more than 71,000 tons per trip.  An adequately dredged navigation system would have allowed the vessel to deliver nearly 1.5 million tons through July.

The same is true in the coal trade.  Another 1,000 foot long vessel was able to carry 65,443 tons in a single trip at month's end.  If that was how much the ship had loaded on each of its 26 trips this year, it would have delivered 1.7 million tons of low-sulfur coal to utilities in the U.S. and 65,443-ton cargo is roughly 4,000 tons below the vessel's rated capacity.

For the year, U.S.-Flag carriage stands at 51.1 million tons, a slight decrease from both a year ago and the 5 year average for the January-July timeframe.

Coal Down and Water Up in July

Rising water levels did not prove a boon for the Great Lakes coal trade in July.  Shipments totaled 4.4 million net tons, a decrease of nearly 6 percent compared to a year ago.

Coal shipments from Lake Superior and Lake Michigan were on par with a year ago, but laodings at Lake Erie ports fell by nearly 300,000 tons.

Rising water levels did allow some larger cargos to be carried.  Several cargos that transited the connecting channels (St. Marys River and Detroit/St. Clair River) topped 66,000 tons.  Towards the end of the month, one cargo exceeded 67,000 tons.  However, even these improved payloads fell short of vessels' rated capacity by 4,000 tons or more.

For the year, the Great Lakes coal trade stands at 19.8 million tons, an increase of 2.2 percent compared to a year ago.  The trade is fractionally off the 5-year average for the January-July timeframe.

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